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Superior Circle Tour June 2013

Greetings,

New Year's Day is a great day to start planning out some trips. Circle Tour of Superior this June is looking good and I was looking for suggestions and insights you may have to share. Post is on ADV but linked below.

Basically I have 8-10ish days and will be looking to spend some time enjoying the area not just zipping around and back. Likely won't fit in everything, but I don't want to miss something that 'locals' may know.

Superior Thoughts

As a former Minnesotan I can offer a few thoughts and ideas -

1. June is typically Black Fly season. These are not house flies - they hatch along the shoreline and are literally the devil incarnate. They swarm you biting hard and drawing blood from every exposed part of your skin - bug spray has no effect whatsoever. A single swipe of your hand can kill a dozen.... and another fifteen instantly arrive to take their places. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_fly

Moose have been known to flee them by submerging themselves in the icy waters of Superior.

'Just sayin. They are all gone after about a ten day rampage.

2. The North Shore of Superior is beautiful - take the time to 1. Have lunch at Betty's Pies near Two Harbors. 2. Visit Split Rock Lighthouse on Minnesota's North Shore. 3. Visit and explore Gooseberry Falls - take the path all the way out to the Lake from the Falls - you can find raw agates on this rocky shore. 4. Stop and visit Palasade Head cliffs just North of Silver Bay - soaring granite cliffs with technical rock climbers working their way up various routes on the many faces.

General comments - Lake Superior water is cold. Don't count on swimming. The beaches are rocky, not sandy - this lake - the largest freshwater lake in the world - influences the weather around the lake greatly. Water temps probably vary only ten degrees year around. 32F to 42F once you are off the immediate shore.

My favorite campground is between Schroder and Tofte, MN, called Temperance River, on the North Shore. Superb hiking , campsites, nature, services. Don't miss the climb up Carlton Peak and the pre dawn sunrise every morn sitting out on the rock, IMO.

Mmmm... I like pie! Thanks for the suggestions everyone. Looking like a good trip so far.

Yeah... I'm no stranger to black flies, and have spent several trips in Northern New England hiking and backpacking with those bite-y bastards. Heres hoping I miss the worst of it.

I've been hearing good things about the climbing near silver bay. I usually toss my rock shoes in my bag so maybe I can squeeze in my harness too and jump on a line with some folks. I love climbing in new areas - I'll be sure to check that out with the locals.

I've been hearing good things about the climbing near silver bay. I usually toss my rock shoes in my bag so maybe I can squeeze in my harness too and jump on a line with some folks. I love climbing in new areas - I'll be sure to check that out with the locals.

Picture taken at the parking lot at Palisades Head - just off Highway 61 - The parking lot is at the top of the Palasade cliffs - roughly 125' of pink granite/quartz cliffs. There are usually climbers there - I recall that there are probably a dozen or so rated technical climbs here, including a nifty chimmney climb.

I also love the North Shore area of canada and Manitoulin Island.
If you find yourself in that area and need a place to stay near Bruce Mines Ont, I love this place, good German food and beer and can just stay right there and not worry about tipping a few too many:http://www.bavarianinnbrucemines.com/

Lots of good info on there, it makes it easy to post a reference to what I am talking about and you can find pics and other info online from there.

Looking at your location, I could see a good general plan would be to head generally towards Buffalo/Niagra/Toronto, then north and west towards Owen Sound/Wiarton (love that area, the Grey/Bruce Peninsula)/Tobermory, then take a ferry http://www.ontarioferries.com/ontari...ish/index.html
to South Baymouth (Manitoulin Island), then north to the North Channel area and west towards Sault Ste Marie.
At that point you need to decide, up and over the lake or down to UP (upper peninsula) Michigan.
My thought would be to avoid an extra border crossing, go up and over. There will be times where you won't be near the lake very much, but I enjoyed the trip the one time i went over it. Mainly I can say "been there, done that". I was lucky I did it in August, past the black fly season. I've been to the UP during black fly season, yeah they are little bastards for sure. Nets like what a beekeeper uses (think pith helmet with attached netting) works nicely. The more off the beaten path you get the worse they are though. I was WAY off the beaten path.
Anyways, yeah up and over and back in to the US in Grand Portage. The trip down to Duluth/Superior is a very nice ride, I think has been mentioned. Then continue east to the Copper Harbor and other areas i had mentioned. From Paradise MI I'd head to St Ignace MI and go south on the Mackinac Bridge, assuming you've never had the terror, errr, honor.http://www.mackinacbridge.org/

By this point you might have your trip time close to spent and ready to rocket it down towards Detroit on I75 and home.